Ten years after the most startling and cold-blooded attacks carried out on American soil, Shalhevet students and staff remembered cancelled school, frightened parents, and knowing ‘something really bad’ had happened.
“I remember that I was getting ready for school and I walked in to the kitchen and saw my mom freaking out on the phone. She told me that I wasn’t going to school that day so I was excited, until I found out why.
“She told me that a plane went in to one of the Twin Towers and she was trying to get a hold of my grandparents who were staying in New York at that time. She finally found out that they were okay, and then we watched the second tower get hit and both of the towers go down on the TV. I just remember being really scared, and I didn’t understand why people would do such a thing.”
–Leah Glouberman ‘13
“I certainly remember where I was when I found out. It was the beginning of junior year of high school and I was sitting in an extremely intense history class taught by Dr. Chase. That particular day, I was pretty bored in class and ‘went to the bathroom.’ Strolling the hallway, a friend of mine, Avi Zenilman, informed me that the first building was hit. I was shocked and ran back to class to tell everyone. But I was pretty timid in Dr. Chase’s class and would not dare mention it.
“Finally, another student was bored, left class and returned wiht the horrendous news. An assembly was immediately called and we all watched the news together. Some cried some awkwardly laughed, but we came together to pray for all those who were hurt or killed. We were then dismissed and we drove home to be with our families. An awful day in history and something that will always stay with me.”
— Mr. Noam Weissman, Gemarah teacher and Director of Judaic Curriculum
“At the time my father worked in New York. Thankfully he was the one who called home to tell us to turn on the TV so we knew he was fine. Anyway, I was in my room getting ready for school when my mom walked in crying, telling us to put our stuff away, that we were staying at home that day. I played with legos for the entire day and was just very confused, but I remember the day vividly.”
— Justin Brandt-Sarif ’12
“I remember lots of things. I was at UCLA at the time and I remember that I was on campus before I heard. I remember being so angry. I had a doctor’s appointment. My normal blood pressure was 110 over 180, and then my blood pressure was 145 over whatever. I was very angry. I spent the rest of the day listening to the radio and watching TV.”
— Dr. Jay Smallwood, AP science teacher and Science Department Coordinator
“I remember going to school and no one being there because everyone’s parents were too scared to send their kids to a Jewish school, except for my parents. And I vaguely remember seeing the building burning on the TV but I didn’t get why it was a big deal.”
— Rebecca Asch ’11
“I remember going to school and almost no one was there. Even though I didn’t know what was going on I could tell something bad had happened because I remember all the teachers seemed pretty upset.”
–Eitan Rothman‘13
“I was in New Jersey at the time working for Yeshivat Beit Hillel. This was my first year not working as a paramedic. My wife called me and said the tower is on fire. I have dozens of friends who worked there. I went to the roof of the school and I saw the fire and watched them burn. We had a lockdown at tehschool. Parents panicked and wanted to take their kids. Finally we organized everyone and parents who came got their kids out. We held an assembly before the buildings fell down. I volunteered to go on duty. They said I would be scheduled within 48 hours. I was never re-activated because they didn’t need me.
“Many of our friends in New Jersey who worked in the buildings would take a bus to New York. That day, most of them missed the bus, which saved their life. But three days later I found out thata partner of mine, Chris, was part of the fire department that went in and never came out. They never found anything of Chris — no bones or uniform. But I can picture her running into the building to help.”
– Mr. Yossie Frankel, Science teacher and Director of Technology
“I remember going to school that day and for some reason the teachers were always on their cell phones and seemed really on edge and nervous. When I got home my parents were a little shaken up and told me and my brohter that there was a bad plane crash in New York and a lot of people were hurt. As I grew up I learned more about what hapened that day.”
— Robin Ashkenazi ’14
“When I was younger, I would always watched Saturday cartoons at night. What I remember most distinctively about 9/11 was being frustrated and confused that all the TV was showing every Saturday night was a plane crashing into a smokey and fiery building and hten seeing the horrified face of the news anchor. I didn’t understand what had happened; I understood that my parents were extremely distraught, shocked even. I didn’t understand terrorism — I was six.”
— Rose Bern ’13
Max Rabin • Sep 11, 2011 at 11:16 pm
I woke up to go to school, it was the beginning of 10th grade in Shalhevet.
We didn’t stop listening to the radio all the way to school. In school we had Shacharit then an assembly. It was so surreal.